By Eric Goldscheider ’93G

Studying Human Movement

It wouldn’t be oversimplifying things too much to say that some of Brian Umberger’s research exists at the juncture of Hollywood special effects and the treatment of diseases affecting motor functions. Step into Umberger’s lab and he might attach up to 40 reflective markers to your body and have you walk or jump for a series of cameras that track your movements. Meanwhile, pressure-sensitive plates in the ground measure the downward forces you exert. He’d then crunch the data to diagram how you move.

A new addition to the Department of Kinesiology, Umberger studies human biomechanics, which is the application of physics to biological systems. He is developing complex mathematical models to indicate how specific muscles contribute to body movement. Researchers in this field ask such basic questions as, out of all the possible ways we could achieve forward motion, why do we walk the way we do? Or, why don’t we habitually run?

The computer graphics and games industries “basically stole” techniques to capture digitally human motion from scientists like him, says Umberger. For example, that’s why the animated Tiger Woods in his eponymous video game swings a club exactly like the real person. But Umberger is not complaining. “We benefited because they pumped a lot of money into motion-picture technology.”

Umberger recently teamed up with the Shriners Hospital to help understand impairments faced by children with cerebral palsy. “I bring to that project analysis techniques, computational tools, and cutting-edge research,” he says.

The Blame Game

Brooklyn native Peter Graham is a self-described “big-city boy” adjusting to the charms of Western Massachusetts. He did his graduate work at New York University before joining the UMass Amherst philosophy department this year to pursue an interest in the intersection between metaphysics and ethics.

Graham’s primary focus is on the concept of blameworthiness. In other words, if people can’t help themselves from doing some things, can they properly be held responsible for those acts? For instance, is it appropriate to punish a kleptomaniac whose penchant for stealing is beyond his or her control? Conversely, can there be a moral obligation to act affirmatively in situations where individuals have no power to influence the outcome? In weighing such questions, concepts such as “free will” and “universal causal determinism” come into play.

When he isn’t researching this heady terrain, Graham is introducing undergrads to Aristotle, Jeremy Bentham, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, and the like. After asking them to ponder fundamental metaphysical concerns, such as whether God exists and arguments around cultural relativism, Graham challenges his students to consider contemporary questions, such as justifications of, or objections to, abortion, euthanasia, and eating animals.

Graham is excited to be at UMass Amherst because the department has a recognized strength in metaphysics and ethics. He lives in Northampton. “It’s a bit of a change to move up here where things are more country-like,” he says, “but it’s a pretty hip town.”

 

Of Mice and Iron Overload

Trained as a biochemist in Hiroshima and Tokyo in her native Japan, Gunshin is known for her advances in understanding iron absorption, in particular for cloning the first known mammalian iron transporter gene (DMT1: Divalent Metal Transporter 1). It is thought to play a role in causing hereditary hemochromatosis, a little-known but common iron overload disease that can lead to premature aging, organ failure, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer. It affects one in 250 Americans.

Currently Gunshin is studying how this gene carries excess iron from the intestines to vital organs such as the heart, liver, and brain. That’s where her critters come in. Her colony of so-called “knockout mice” has been genetically modified and bred to disrupt this gene. The next step will be to breed mice in which the gene is disabled only in specific tissue and not the entire organism. The idea is to localize the origins of damage. If it turns out DMT1 is not the culprit, she has other gene candidates in mind for study.

In case you are wondering, Gunshin does not recommend iron supplements for men and post-menopausal women. The most up-to-date treatments for excess iron in the system is bleeding (blood phlebotomies) and other therapies with severe side effects. Her career goal is to develop strategies to diagnose, prevent, and treat iron overload in the liver and heart.

Transmitting to a New Generation

As an astronomer, Daniela Calzetti is used to peering into the distant past. Her move to UMass Amherst is all about looking to the future—not in a technical sense, science hasn’t gotten to that point (yet), but by interacting with young practitioners in her field. “The university offers the possibility to come in touch with the new generation of astronomers,” Calzetti said from her office in Baltimore last December. Calzetti, a native of Italy, was preparing to bid farewell to the Space Telescope Science Institute, where she has worked as a staff astronomer since 1995.

Many exciting things are happening in the field of astronomy and UMass Amherst is in the thick of them, thanks to its role in building and operating the Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) in Mexico. Work there, looking at relatively nearby galaxies, will complement efforts at another international project based in Chile to gaze at distant galaxies “near the beginning of the universe,” according to Calzetti.

“At the Institute I helped to take care of instrumentation and dealt with colleagues, as well as transmitting what we learned to a new generation,” said Calzetti. The shift from keeping orbiting hardware “healthy” to teaching presents a welcome new chapter in her career. Calzetti is making the move with her husband, Mauro Giavalisco, a fellow astronomer. His field is cosmology, which, though in the same department, is a whole other world.

The couple’s two children, ages seven and three, are also looking forward to the move. “My kids like that there is more wilderness around Amherst than around Baltimore,” said Calzetti. “They already like the place.”

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away

The Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT), a 50-meter diameter telescope optimized for astronomical observations at millimeter wavelengths, is a collaboration between UMass Amherst and Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica.When completed, it will be the largest telescope of this type in the world, capable of probing a wide range of new astrophysical problems.

The LMT’s inauguration by Mexican president Vincente Fox in November 2006 marked a significant milestone: the completion of the basic telescope structure, including an initial set of reflector surface panels covering about one-half of the total surface area in the inner portion of the antenna, and the installation of the antenna drive system, enabling the telescope to track and detect a radio source at three centimeters wavelength. Completion of the remaining key subsystems required to obtain the first scientific results at millimeter wavelengths is planned for late 2007 or early 2008.

Scientists at UMass Amherst will lead efforts to bring the telescope to its full scientific potential and are responsible for its computerized telescope control system and powerful scientific instruments. Upcoming research projects range from solar-system studies to the investigation of the cosmic star formation history. More information on the LMT can be found at www.astro.umass.edu and www.lmtgtm.org.